Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Kansas State - Chef Veronica

Meet Chef Veronica Coon. Chef for the men of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Kansas State. She started cooking early in her life, it’s just something she’s always done. Her father was a waiter in a nice restaurant, which gave her a taste of the professional culinary world. As a kid, she told “the big man with the white hat “I’m gonna work with you one day” and low and behold later on she met him and got a job. Veronica fell in love with cooking and never stopped. “I can’t do something everyday that I don’t like, [it’s] wonderful, the hours are great,” she says of her current position at College Chefs.

She speaks to the challenge of an ever changing menu in the Phi Delta Theta house, but also the opportunity that it presents for growth and learning. Veronica is always working on new techniques and the fraternity men serve as great guinea pigs to try her food. “I love the concept that everything is fresh [...] I know these guys are getting really good food- that’s the point. [They] show gratitude for everything.”

Veronica’s menu is always diverse; she has a passion for food history and learning why different cultures eat what they do. “It’s not a question of what I want to do, it’s how.”

She credits her husband and her faith to act as a great support system to chase her passion. And Julia Childs, “I’m still amazed,” she says of the cooking show. She loves seafood and Italian, something simple that you can do a lot of things with. Her homemade pizza is always a house favorite but really they love her bread from scratch and anything that goes with it, they’re guys what can you say!

Assistant Director of Operations, Chef Scott Bachman says, "Veronica Coon is a great Chef and has been a huge asset to the College Chefs' team. She's is arguably the most beloved Chef in the company as far as the guys in her house are concerned. They love her for her food of course but probably moreso for her personality. She is extremely talented as a Chef yet has the ultra-low ego that we're looking for as a company. She takes risks on her menus from time to time but then when the guys want simple food like an all-beef hotdog she's going over the top making the bun from scratch for example. That's what it's all about. Giving the students what they want but also doing it in a manner that a Chef can respect and love as well."

"We're super blessed to have had Chef Veronica as part of our team for the past couple of years and feel that her future is very bright. She's a rockstar," Bachman concludes.